Winnipeg | Upper Fort Garry Provincial Park | 130 Main St.

[newflyer]

Originally Posted by Only The Lonely..

Say, how's that Fort coming along?

One year later and it still lots like a garbage strewn lot to me.

Perhaps a letter to the editor is in order.

A gargabe strewn lot you say... well get use to it.

I don't expect much of anything ... "world class" ... yeah right.

[rgalston]

Here it comes...

Heritage Winnipeg fundraiser to raise money for their move to the Kelly House, March 20 at the Fort Garry Hotel:

"An update will be given on the Upper Fort Garry project." link

[LilZebra]

I nominate Rob Galston to be the next Executive Director or President of Heritage Winnipeg.

[wags_in_the_peg]

100 main st (former city of wpg building) windows have been removed and the demo crane is on site.....

[esquire]

I took a stroll through Upper Fort Garry Provincial Park for the first time today. Given that it's the first truly beautiful week of the season and sidewalks everywhere were packed over the noon hour, you might have expected the park to be busy too. Let me tell you, busy is the opposite of how I would describe the park... if it weren't for a few employees from Fort Garry Place enjoying some sun, there would have been no one there.

The funny thing is that the park itself is gorgeous... small, but square metre for square metre probably the best in the province. The design looks like what you might see in a major capital city. Yet it is so far off the downtown beaten path that hardly anyone is there.

In some ways UFG park is like the CentrePort Canada Way of parks... impressive, but hard to fathom why it was built on that scale, swallowing nearly the entire block, given the more pressing needs for that kind of infrastructure that exist elsewhere. A more compact park with the 300 Assiniboine apartment tower at the southern end of the block (as originally planned) would have made for a much better setting.

Oh well, hopefully at least Gordon Sinclair and the Friends of Upper Fort Garry like the end result.

[oftheMoon]

Originally Posted by esquire

I took a stroll through Upper Fort Garry Provincial Park for the first time today. Given that it's the first truly beautiful week of the season and sidewalks everywhere were packed over the noon hour, you might have expected the park to be busy too. Let me tell you, busy is the opposite of how I would describe the park... if it weren't for a few employees from Fort Garry Place enjoying some sun, there would have been no one there.

The funny thing is that the park itself is gorgeous... small, but square metre for square metre probably the best in the province. The design looks like what you might see in a major capital city. Yet it is so far off the downtown beaten path that hardly anyone is there.

In some ways UFG park is like the CentrePort Canada Way of parks... impressive, but hard to fathom why it was built on that scale, swallowing nearly the entire block, given the more pressing needs for that kind of infrastructure that exist elsewhere. A more compact park with the 300 Assiniboine apartment tower at the southern end of the block (as originally planned) would have made for a much better setting.

Oh well, hopefully at least Gordon Sinclair and the Friends of Upper Fort Garry like the end result.

We strolled through there on a beautiful Sunday afternoon a few weeks back. It is a very gorgeous park but unfortunately way over-scale and grossly under-used. And I can't see that every changing. But for those who haven't been in it, I'd recommend checking it out. Very nice!

[Cyro]

Originally Posted by esquire

I took a stroll through Upper Fort Garry Provincial Park for the first time today. Given that it's the first truly beautiful week of the season and sidewalks everywhere were packed over the noon hour, you might have expected the park to be busy too. Let me tell you, busy is the opposite of how I would describe the park... if it weren't for a few employees from Fort Garry Place enjoying some sun, there would have been no one there.

Thx for dusting off this thread.

Haven't had an opportunnity to walk through the park yet but will get out to see it eventually. It's unfortunate that it's use may never reach the potential that we envisioned for it. Time will tell. Amended the thread title.

>>>> Street View


http://www.upperfortgarry.com/inform...le-park-guide/

[esquire]

^ Massive missed opportunity... 300 Assiniboine should have went into the site pegged for the interpretive centre that will probably never get built. In the unlikely event that FOUFG ever raised the money to build it, they could have put it at the SE corner of the site which would have raised its profile somewhat along Main Street, while also perhaps blocking at least some of the considerable traffic noise coming from over there.

Incidentally, 300 Assiniboine has a great street presence. I love the dropoff lane... it kind of reminds me of some hotels I've stayed at in the past.

[buzzg]

UFG reminds me of going to see the Acropolis. It's just a different piles of rocks (in UFG's case, flowers) that used to be buildings. Almost nothing to see or do.

Also, the "interpretive wall" is absurd. Sure, the LEDs look cool - but it's just a bunch of horse noises and barking. Makes no sense. Don't know why they ever thought that people would want to go stand there and see it. What's worse, it's on a schedule, as if people were going to treat it like a show. Run it in a loop or have buttons to activate it.

God it really grinds my gears. What a waste of prime space, on Broadway, across from Union Station, that will never see good development on it because ppl will flip their shit if we were to get rid of a "provincial park."

[Bluenote]

Originally Posted by buzzg

UFG reminds me of going to see the Acropolis. It's just a different piles of rocks (in UFG's case, flowers) that used to be buildings. Almost nothing to see or do.

Also, the "interpretive wall" is absurd. Sure, the LEDs look cool - but it's just a bunch of horse noises and barking. Makes no sense. Don't know why they ever thought that people would want to go stand there and see it. What's worse, it's on a schedule, as if people were going to treat it like a show. Run it in a loop or have buttons to activate it.

God it really grinds my gears. What a waste of prime space, on Broadway, across from Union Station, that will never see good development on it because ppl will flip their shit if we were to get rid of a "provincial park."

There was a lot more planned for it. But it came down to money. So it's not the best. But it is a very historic site. And that alone deserves more then some gleaming condo building that you desire. And it's not like there is no empty space around that station. Hence the longest wasteland strip in all of downtown is just north of the station. So I'm sure you can lobby to get the city to do something with all that righ ?

And bottom line. If you don't like it. You don't have to look at it. 👍

[biguc]

The core concept of the park as useful space is flawed. It defies people walking through it, partly because it's based on a fort, which are made to keep people out, and partly because its shape doesn't correspond to anything that actually exists. If you could cut across from Main and Broadway to Fort and Assiniboine, it would actually accommodate pedestrian traffic.

No amount of money could fix that.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Bluenote

Hence the longest wasteland strip in all of downtown is just north of the station. So I'm sure you can lobby to get the city to do something with all that righ ?

The funny thing about that is that in this case, there was a company willing to spend its own money on a project that would have had a direct positive impact on the southern end of Main Street. In this case, things were made worse as a result of someone lobbying the city.

[The Jabroni]

Originally Posted by esquire

The funny thing about that is that in this case, there was a company willing to spend its own money on a project that would have had a direct positive impact on the southern end of Main Street. In this case, things were made worse as a result of someone lobbying the city.

Yup.

This is perhaps the best example of lobbying for a pie in the sky idea that became a reality that nobody is going to ever use everyday, if ever.

Had that one developer actually built the proposed residential area, it would have doubled as a plaza for said residential development. In other words, killed two birds with one stone. Instead, they used massive rock and decimate an area with said rock, but with no birds in sight.

Eventually I'll make my way there to see it and check it out, but at the moment, there's no real reason for me to go there if the end result was as half-baked than what was proposed by those so-called "friends" who successfully lobbied for a failure of a project.

Every day I drive by that place, and I only see at least one person, if not, two people hanging about there. That's about it.

I hope those "friends" are proud of themselves. SMH.

[robertocarlos]

It's purpose is to not block the view of the building next to it. Who are those people? Total success. I spent way more time in the old park. I just pass by this one on the way to St. B but it does have a shortcut across the old gas station area.

It's still better than an empty government building.

[drew]

I like it. I think once the interpretive centre is complete it will help to solidify it's presence and place in the area.

I am glad we have it. I am glad we ended up with 300 Assiniboine.

Let's move on and focus our attention on the numerous current empty lots on non-historically important sites that continue to blight Main Street in the blocks north of this park.

[h0twired]

What could have been...

[esquire]

^ Oh God, don't remind us.

Looking at that site plan Cyro posted, what really would have made the site a showstopper would have been putting 300 Assiniboine on the plot of land reserved for the interpretive centre. Then the interpretive centre could have been placed on the left-most part of the park, where the "fur store" is shown.

Actually, come to think of it, an even better place for the interpretive centre would have been at the NE corner right at Broadway and Main. That would have left plenty of room for a nice park AND for a building to anchor the site and to provide a steady flow of people through it.

Sigh.

[1ajs]

interesting forgoten note that above design is a fellow former who also did the 300 assinboin design and the osborne st brt station.............

[Urban recluse]

That development would have been a wonderful anchor for that end of Main, but stupidity reigned supreme as usual.

[Wpg_Guy]

I posted this in the Canada section thread on public art, has anyone's feelings changed towards this park? I think the LED wall is really impressive, especially seeing that solid steal upclose it's a beautiful installation.

Originally Posted by Wpg_Guy

This is kind of a hidden gem in downtown Winnipeg, the new Upper Fort Garry Provincial Park. The park outlines where the old Fort Gary used to be, the only remaining feature is the original gate on the north end of the park.

The coolest feature of the park is the western edge's 400 foot heritage wall that displays thousands of LED pixel lights and puts on a light and sound show that you can initiate from your phone, check on the youtube videos below.

http://www.upperfortgarry.com/


http://www.doorsopenwinnipeg.ca/wp-c...G-660x440.jpeg




https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8SwiKIP_j...00/pic%2B5.jpg


https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-o7faoitmS...0/pic%2B11.jpg






Upper Fort Garry Sound and Light Show Art Installation 0:042 preview
The 400 foot long Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries Heritage Wall was designed using multiple stacked layers of undulating steel, and with over 7,000 programmable LEDs, tells the history of the Fort and western Canada in unprecedented and never-before-seen ways.
• Video Link

0:036 preview
• Video Link

A brief look into how the Upper Fort Garry Heritage Wall was made 05:55

Video Link

Upper Fort Garry - sound & light show amateur video 04:59
• Video Link

Eventually the heritage wall will be the exterior wall to an interpretive centre that will be built on the site.